Veracruz was the last state visited in my first trip to Mexico. The end of the adventure was close, but as I have heard on some occasions, I was heading to one of the happiest Mexican states where music, dances, succulent food and good-humored people are what characterize Veracruzanos.

The people from Veracruz are also known as jarochos, they live as should be lived, with the intention of enjoying life with music and dance on every corner. My first impression when I entered Veracruz was that of a big city, organized and well-lighted and foremost, active. A person (Vichy) from the Institute of Tourism was waiting for me in the station and quickly I saw myself sitting down on an American Ford trying to read the itineraries that I should make in three days, before heading for Mexico F.D.

Tlacotalpan We travel along the road setting out for Tlacotalpan, a small city where it is said that Agustín Lara was born. As usual the unexpected is the spice of life, just having a ride along the beautiful city and especially along its slope, we approached the dock of the shore and I began talking with a local that by the way, was a landowner and expert in the field, heading toward the other shore to visit his territories and have a ride on horseback to see by himself the state of his fields and cattle. As a typical citizen of Veracruz, good-tempered and hospitable, he invited me to his hacienda and I immediately accepted without hesitation. I quickly jumped aboard the small boat and was lucky to see and photograph the city from a different view, sail on its bank and visit the hacienda and take pictures of the casttle. The return was even more pleasant since it allowed me to see again Agustín Lara’s birthplace. On the next morning we set out for a port with the help of an Asturian based in Veracruz for several years, Joaquín Galguera, he was the owner of Oriente Restaurant, a very traditional place, full of photographs from Asturias. He took us to the famous La Parroquia Café, next to the Cathedral, the most popular place to drink a good cup of coffee and read the newspaper. After a pleasant gathering where remembrances of Spain were heard, we started the visit to the city, the Cathedral, the Museum of the City, the Bulkwark of Santiago and San Juan Ulúa Fortress. It is indispensable to visit this fortress because it is here where the history of Veracruz City is written. The Spaniards started the construction of the fortress in 1528 and lasted 180 years. Veracruz was the last Mexican territory that Spain gave back, being San Juan Ulúa Fortress, the place where the last Spanish flag was hoisted. It is important to stress that this fortress was built with white coral and though at present, there are many parts reconstructed with red bricks, still the old corals are seen.As soon as we left the city, we set out along the Route-180 heading for Zempoala, located at 80 km from Veracruz where the largest ruins of the Totocanas cities are. The Aztecs built this city in 1469 and it was there where the first contact was made between the men of Hernán Cortés and the Tocananas. Leaving behind historic Zempoala, we set out for the small town of La Antigua, an original place where Cortés founded Rica de la Vera Cruz Village where he built the oldest church of the Americas in the interior of a city. On the evening, we returned to happy city, again we shook hands with Joaquín Galguera and in the company of his wife, we shared a pleasant night at Oriente Restaurant. The lights offered a new and enigmatic vision of the port, the "viandantes" were others, the executives were not there and a new urban tribe dominated this part of the city. Despite all that, it offered a pleasant aspect. It was true what the guides said, "Veracruz: the most musical and nice city of Mexico." A new day has begun and the destination was Xalapa, located in the center of the State. The City of Xalapa has one of the most important archeological museums of Mexico where I saw discoveries of all the civilizations that make up the history of Mexico. After a pleasant dinner at La Sopa, the most cultural restaurant of Xalapa, a place of gathering of all the cultural personalities of the city, my visit to Xapala was over. The new day will take me to Mexico F.D. then to Madrid by Aeroméxico airways, and then my first and exciting trip to Mexico will have concluded.